Central Michigan University
Eastern Michigan
Chippewas Earn Title Shot
3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Central Michigan women's basketball team followed a familiar script and as a result will play for the Mid-American Conference championship on Saturday.
Cassie Breen scored 24 points to lead four Chippewas in double figures Friday as CMU topped Eastern Michigan, 86-71, in a MAC Tournament semifinal at Quicken Loans Arena.
CMU (22-9), which was seeded second, will play eighth-seeded Buffalo (19-13) in Saturday's title game at 1 p.m. The winner advances to the NCAA Tournament.
Buffalo defeated the Chippewas, 67-61, on Jan. 6 in Buffalo in their only meeting this season.
"This team, they're coachable," said CMU coach Sue Guevara, whose team has won 13 of its last 15 starts. "This team has bought in. They care about each other and they're on a mission. Our mission is to attack on both sides of the floor, and our mission right now is to go after a championship.
"We have a pretty special group. I just didn't know in my wildest dreams that we were going to be where we are tomorrow, but they just keep playing. They love the game, they love Central Michigan University women's basketball. They love the university, they love wearing Chippewas across their front, and that's what they play for. There's no names on the back of our uniforms. They play for the front. That's what's really special about them."
CMU's Tinara Moore added 21 points and 11 rebounds for her 18th double-double of the season, Presley Hudson had 19 points and Jewel Cotton came off the bench to add 12 points and 14 rebounds as the Chippewas held a 41-29 edge on the glass.
The Chippewas fell behind early, just as they did in Wednesday's 66-62 quarterfinal victory over Western Michigan. The Eagles (21-11) led by 13 points midway through the second quarter.
By halftime, CMU had trimmed its deficit to four, 41-37. The Chippewas outscored the Eagles, 32-17, in the third quarter and led, 69-58, headed into the fourth.
Eastern Michigan never made a serious push in the fourth as CMU extended its lead to as many as 18 in the final stanza.
"You know, unfortunately we've been put in this position a lot," Cotton said of the Chippewas' tendency to fall behind early in games. "So I think with that we know that one possession at a time, we can get it back.
"And if you've been following our games, you know we don't give up regardless of what the score is."
The Chippewas are vying for their first MAC Tournament title and first NCAA Tourney berth since 2013, and the fourth in program history.
CMU senior guard Da'Jourie Turner scored just four points, but she dished out a career-high 12 assists and bird-dogged Eastern's leading scorer, Cha Sweeney, all game long.
Sweeney scored 18 points, but was just 7-for-21 from the floor including 2-of-10 from 3-point range. Sweeney scored 29 points in EMU's 67-53 quarterfinal win over Ball State on Wednesday.
"There's two sides of the ball and I think that (Turner) really answered that challenge against Cha," Guevara said. "We know she's going to put the ball up. I told (Turner), if (Sweeney) puts it up 35 times she puts it up 35 times, but we want it contested.
"(Turner) is probably one of our best defensive players and she'll probably get the assignment of (Buffalo's) Joanna Smith tomorrow."
The Chippewas made 15 of their 27 3-point attempts (55.6 percent) and finished 31-of-60 overall from the floor.
Breen, a sophomore guard, tied her career-high with eight 3-pointers on 14 attempts, while Hudson was 5-of-10 from long range. Breen was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc Wednesday against Western Michigan.
"I think in the Western game I was really just kind of nervous," Breen said. "I think that just got me warmed up for this game.
"I really took it upon myself to visualize my shot and just making it, and I watched some extra film with one of my assistant coaches, Raina Harmon, and just looking at my makes and just my form and just how relaxed I was. I really tried to transfer that over to my game tonight."
Phillis Webb scored 20 points to lead the Eagles, while Janay Morton added 12.
The Eagles made four of their nine 3-point attempts and shot 50 percent overall (9-for-18) in the first quarter. They finished the game 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) from long range and 27-of-67 (40.3 percent) from the floor overall.
Eastern's largest lead, 37-24, came on a Webb 3-pointer with 5:25 left in the first half.
"We had some challenges that were asked of our players and they accepted those challenges," Guevara said. "I just couldn't be happier for this team. We're in the championship game."
